


Casa de Muñecas

by pipitass



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 02:58:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4003267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipitass/pseuds/pipitass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“She’s got enough dolls to have an army. Play with those, and if she gets bored you can always put on a movie. She likes all the Disney princesses, but her favourite is Mulan,” Xavi made a face, not too sure about what to do, even if it sounded sort of simple, “Oh, come on, Xavi. Don’t make that face. Worst case scenario? She tries to put some makeup on you and braid your hair.”</p>
<p>OR: </p>
<p>Andrés is filing for divorce and Valeria's babysitter is on vacation. He decides to call Xavi instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Casa de Muñecas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rabia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabia/gifts).



> Because Xavi leaving Barça means Xavi leaving Andrés and I'm not sure I'll ever be ok with either of those.

Xavi paced outside of Andrés’ house. He’d woken up with his house phone ringing on the nightstand, and he would have ignored it had it not been the ringtone he used for Andrés, and Andrés only. He had just filed for divorce with his wife, Anna, and the strain it had put on him was massive. Xavi had made a habit of checking up on him- Andrés had a history of depression, and Xavi never wanted to have to hear his friend say the things he used to say during those times. It was not easy having your best friend call you up at 1am to tell you he felt worthless, useless, that all he really wanted was to-

Xavi gulped. It was not something he really wanted to remember. 

He heard some shuffling from the other side of the door, and Andrés opened it with a smile. 

“Xavi, man, thank you so much for doing this.”

“No problem,” He scratched the back of his head. 

“Valeria’s babysitter is on holiday and my lawyer called. Anna is going to fight for sole custody.” 

Xavi wasn’t quite sure what to say. He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and sighed, “I’m sorry, Andrés.”

Andrés looked down, “It’s ok,” he turned around, “Valeria! Come here!”

A little girl with bouncing curls appeared next to Andrés, hiding behind his leg. 

“Valeria, you remember Xavi, right?” The little girl nodded behind him, walking out from behind his leg a bit, “He’s going to take care of you for little while, is that ok?”

She nodded, “Where are you going daddy?” 

“I’m going to go see mommy, sweetie.”

“Is she coming back?”

Xavi felt a hundred times worse then, like he was intruding in a private moment. Andrés’ gaze fell, “No sweetie. She’s not.”

Valeria nodded, holding her arms out for a hug. Andrés lifted her up, giving her a loud kiss on the top of her head before putting her back down on the floor, “Be good, don’t give Xavi much trouble, ok?”

She smiled, nodding energetically. 

Xavi raised his eyebrows, “So uhm, I’ve never really…”

Andrés laughed, “It’s simple. Keep her entertained, and if she gets hungry and it’s too early for dinner just give her some fruit salad, there’s a large bowl of it in the fridge.”

“Ok, but how am I supposed to keep her entertained?”

“She’s got enough dolls to have an army. Play with those, and if she gets bored you can always put on a movie. She likes all the Disney princesses, but her favourite is Mulan,” Xavi made a face, not too sure about what to do, even if it sounded sort of simple, “Oh, come on, Xavi. Don’t make that face. Worst case scenario? She tries to put some makeup on you and braid your hair.”

“Well, it’s not like she can braid yours, considering you don’t have any, so I might as well let her practice,” They both laughed at that. 

“Trust me, she’s the calmest kid you’ll ever meet. She won’t give you any trouble, and if she does,” He looked at Valeria, “then she knows she won’t get any dessert tonight, right?”

Valeria nodded enthusiastically once more. Andrés took his keys from a bowl in the entrance to his house and gave Valeria another kiss, “Call me if you need anything, ok? If I don’t make it to dinner, there’s some soup in the stove. See you later!” 

Xavi waved him goodbye as Andrés drove out of his driveway. When he was gone, he was met with Valeria staring at him. 

“Hi,” Xavi had probably never thought he’d be so intimidated and scared of a 5 year old girl. 

Valeria smiled at him, taking his hand, “Come on, let’s go play!”

Xavi closed the door behind him as Valeria pulled him through her house. He’d been there enough times to know she was leading them to the play room. Andrés spoiled Valeria rotten, and it could be seen in the amount of toys that filled the room. She sat down on the floor in front of a giant dollhouse, and patted the floor beside her so Xavi would sit. 

Once he sat down, she started taking out all her dolls from the house, explaining to Xavi who they were and how they fit into the small world she’d created, “This is María, she’s an artist that painted the whole house! She’s also the best friend of Camila, but she doesn’t like Isabel very much. Pinky promise you won’t tell her! It’s a secret!” She held her pinky out, and Xavi wrapped his around hers, grinning as he placed all the dolls she talked about in front of him. 

After a while, she took out the three final dolls from the house. Two were male, one whose originally blond hair had been scribbled on with a marker, and the other with the hair part taken off. The female doll was dressed like a princess, with a pink dress and a tiara. 

“This is you!” She held out the one with the scribbled hair at him, “Daddy said that it didn’t look like you, so he painted your hair black so that it did.” 

Xavi held the doll in his hand. Although it seemed weird that Andrés had included him in the game, it also gave him a warm sensation in his chest, spreading out through his body like molten candle wax under a flame. 

“This is daddy,” She held out the doll with no hair, “I told daddy that if your doll had to look like you, then his doll had to look like him too,” She then started giggling, like her father’s hair (or more accurately, lack of) was the funniest thing in the world. Xavi laughed a bit too.

“Who’s that then?” Xavi pointed at the last doll, the princess. 

“That’s me! The prettiest princess of all!” She smiled brightly, and Xavi did so too. 

“Of course that’s you!”

After the introduction, Valeria deemed Xavi knowledgeable enough to play. They spent hours sitting there, creating stories and drama. Usually it was Xavi who made all the princesses fight, and Valeria, having inherited her father’s cool temper, tended to be the one fixing all the drama Xavi started in Valeria’s imaginary princess world. After an intense fight between who was supposed to be Xavi and a mermaid princess called Sofía, Valeria got bored. 

“Let’s put all the dolls back, or daddy is going to kill us!” 

Together they put each doll back, one by one. When it came to the last three, Xavi asked where he should put them. 

“Well, the princess must always be at the top of the castle,” Xavi put her on the highest floor, and then held up the last two dolls, raising his eyebrows, “It doesn’t matter where you put those, because you and daddy are best friends,” She took the dolls from Xavi’s hands and placed them in random rooms, “Daddy says when you two play football, he always knows where you are without looking, but I always say he’s lying! Is it true?” 

Xavi chuckled, “Your dad and I have known each other for so long, that I always know where he is when we play. It’s true! I promise.” 

“Pinky promise?” 

“Of course,” They squeezed pinkies again, and Valeria stood up. 

“I’m hungry.”

Xavi looked at his watch. It was already 6, and Andrés wasn’t back yet. 

“Let’s go to the kitchen then, your dad said there was soup in the stove.”

They made their way over, and Xavi had to lift Valeria up onto the stool, as it was too tall for her to reach it all by herself. He took a bowl from one of the cupboards after turning on the stove to heat up the soup. He served Valeria some of it, and he was quite unsure of what it was. It had a thick texture, more like a cream instead of a soup, and the smell that was emanating from the bowl was… Interesting. 

He handed it over to Valeria, who pulled a face and scrunched up her nose at the sight of it, “I don’t like this.”

“You haven’t tried it yet.”

“Neither have you,” she cleverly pointed out, putting both hands on her hips. 

“All right, if I try it, will you eat it?” 

She nodded, looking incredibly smug for being a sweet 5 year old girl. He took a spoonful from her bowl and blew on it to cool down a bit. When he put it in his mouth, he had to try really hard not to spit it back out. 

“See! It’s horrible!” 

Xavi couldn’t force Valeria to even try the soup, if it could even be called that, “Do you think there’s anything else I can make you for dinner?” 

Valeria hopped off the stool, walking over to the fridge. Xavi opened it for her, and she pointed to a small container of strawberry yogurt. Xavi examined it first- after trying the soup, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was past its expiry date. It was still a month fresh, so he opened it for Valeria and looked for a spoon. He ate a croissant he found in the fridge, sitting opposite Valeria on the kitchen counter. 

When they finished, Valeria told Xavi she wanted to watch a movie. She went to her room and came back with her PJs on, a matching shirt and pants set with what looked like magic wands and crowns. Xavi had managed to figure out how to work the Blu-ray, and put on Mulan. They both settled on the couch, Valeria leaning her head on Xavi’s stomach, watching the opening scene intently. 

Mulan was about to defeat the Huns when Xavi could feel himself about to fall asleep. He looked down at Valeria, who was sleeping peacefully, head on his lap. A small smile covered his face. He wondered if maybe someday he too would have a family of his own. After spending the day with Valeria, he realised that maybe- just maybe- kids weren’t as terrible as he thought. He leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes without even bothering to mute the movie. 

 

Xavi woke up with the sound of the front door opening. He was startled at first, confused as to where he was, but then he remembered that he’d spent the afternoon babysitting Valeria. 

Andrés poked his head into the living room, and Xavi placed his index fingers on his lips as he looked down at the girl on his lap, who was still soundly asleep. 

Andrés leaned his shoulder against the wall, smiling. He whispered, “Want to tuck her in?” 

Xavi nodded, carefully carrying her up to her room. He put her down on the bed, pulling the covers over her as quietly as he could. It wasn’t quiet enough though, and she woke up, looking up at Xavi.

“Xavi?” 

“Yeah?” 

Valeria looked at him for a moment, “Thank you for taking care of daddy. He’s very sad that mommy left, but when I see him on TV with you, he looks very happy.” 

Xavi could feel his throat closing up. What was he supposed to say? “I’ll take care of him until he’s happy again. I pinky promise.” 

Valeria smiled, holding out her pinky and squeezing it with Xavi’s. 

“Good night,” He hesitated before leaning down and giving her a hug, to which she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. 

He stood up, walking back down to the kitchen, where Andrés was sitting with a bottle of beer in his hand. 

“How’d it go?” 

He sighed, “I don’t know. She might not get sole custody, but it looks like she’s gonna fight so I can only see her every other weekend.”

Xavi stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I’m so sorry, Andresito.” 

He looked down at the floor, and Xavi moved his hand from his shoulder to his cheek, stroking it with his thumb. Andrés leaned into the touch. 

“Andrés… I think there’s something I should tell you,” Andrés looked up at Xavi in anticipation, “I’ve wanted…” He breathed in, bracing himself for what was to come, “I’ve wanted to be with you for a long time now. A long time.”

Andrés just stared at him, bewildered, “What?” 

“I never said anything because you seemed so happy with Anna, and I didn’t want to come between you two.” 

“Xavi, I never knew…”

“Well, I didn’t do anything to help myself either.”

“You should have said something. I would have-” Andrés was shaking his head from side to side, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. 

Xavi smiled sadly, “It’s ok. I never expected you to do anything for-”

He was cut off by the firm press of lips against his own. Shocked, he pulled away, “Andrés, don’t-”

“I’m not doing this because of the divorce, ok?” He spoke softly, almost whispering, “I’m doing this because I want to, and I think that maybe some part of me has wanted to do so for a long time now.”

Xavi didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. He just pressed his lips back against Andrés’, pulling him up and leading them to his room.

-

They woke up early, Andrés pressed against Xavi under the sheets. They got up, showered and went about their normal morning routines, Andrés lending Xavi some spare clothes and a toothbrush. He looked funny with no hair gel on, reminding Andrés of the days when they were both young, nobodies looking to become somebodies in football. 

Downstairs Valeria was already awake, watching cartoons and biting into a peach on the couch. She looked surprised at seeing Xavi, frowning a bit as she chewed on her peach. 

“Did Xavi stay over?”

Andrés hesitated. He didn’t need Valeria accidentally telling her mum about this, giving her more reasons to file for sole custody, but at the same time he didn’t want Xavi to feel like he was ashamed of him, “Yes, it was very late when I came back, and I didn’t want him to drive all they way back home tired so I let him stay in the guest room.” 

Valeria shrugged, biting into her peach once again and turning back towards the TV. 

Andrés laughed, going to the kitchen to presumably make breakfast, Xavi trailing behind him. 

“If you’re going to make breakfast, I might as well cook. That soup you made yesterday was an absolute disgrace,” Xavi laughed, taking a pan out of Andrés’ hand. He looked for some flour, eggs, milk, and butter, and started making some pancake flour. It wasn’t a very well known fact, but Xavi was actually a decent cook. 

He’d put the pancakes in the pan when Andrés turned him around, pressing their bodies flush together until Xavi’s back hit the counter. He smirked, pressing his lips momentarily against Andrés’, until the sound of shuffling made them step apart. 

“Daddy,” Valeria stepped into the kitchen, “I’m hungry.”

“Xavi’s making pancakes, dear,” He tried to act as nonchalant as possible, stepping away from Xavi.

“Are they good?”

Xavi chuckled, “Better than your father’s.”

-

A few months had passed since the day Xavi first took care of Valeria. Him and Andrés were officially an item now, and ever so slowly Xavi had started to move some of his stuff into Andrés’ house. They kept it as secret as possible, telling only some of the squad, Geri, Masche, and Leo included, and some close relatives. 

Valeria didn’t know, but she never seemed to question or complain about Xavi’s constant presence at home. 

It was on a quiet Sunday afternoon that Xavi and Valeria were cuddled up on the couch watching Aladdin (Xavi had developed quite a taste for old Disney movies, not that he’d ever admit it) that Valeria spoke up. 

“Xavi, do you love my daddy?” 

Xavi blinked in surprise, “Of course I love your dad, he’s my best friend.”

At that Andrés stepped inside, settling himself next to Xavi, Valeria sitting between them.

“Then why did I see you two kissing the other day?” Valeria’s curious eyes stared from Xavi to Andrés, and they both widened their eyes and looked at each other, unsure of what to say. 

Andrés gulped. His custody issues had been settled, after the court took into consideration that since Anna was always travelling for work, it would put a strain on Valeria’s development to have to live with her. 

Xavi looked down at her, smiling, “Maybe we’re a little more than best friends.”

Valeria frowned, “So you’re my dad too now?”

Andrés laughed, and Xavi- who months ago would have been horrified at the prospect of being a dad- smiled proudly. 

“I guess you could say that.” 

Valeria beamed, hugging Xavi and standing up on the couch to plant a kiss on his cheek. 

As she settled back down between them, Andrés took Xavi’s hand in his. 

He pressed a kiss atop Valeria’s head, and another one on Xavi’s cheek, “I love you. Both of you.”

Valeria giggled, laying her head on Xavi’s lap and propping her feet up on Andrés’ lap. 

As the movie ran, he took a moment to look at Valeria, who’d fallen quietly asleep, her blonde locks falling on her face. He saw Xavi gently brushing her hair back with his fingers, smiling down at her. He looked up and his gaze met with Andrés’. Without thinking about it twice, he kissed him, slowly, tenderly. 

It was then that Andrés realised that he had never been so happy. 

-

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes are my own. Thank you for reading!


End file.
